WWE Clash in Italy: Turin ignites the arena and Italian wrestling gets its revenge

Wrestling's relationship with Italy has often been complicated, not necessarily due to local fans. As we explain in this guide to prepare for its return to Netflix, after the tragic news episode involving Chris Benoit, wrestling in Italy was long marginalized from TV schedules. The arrival on Netflix finally marked the return to a wider distribution of the discipline, but above all, the almost complete broadcast of shows, including Premium Live Events. It is probably no coincidence then that after several house shows (exhibitions not broadcast on TV) and some episodes of Raw and SmackDown, WWE decided to hold a PLE in Italy, a few weeks after the official arrival of its programs in Italy on Netflix.

Beyond the motivations, Clash in Italy, the PLE held on Sunday, May 31st in Turin, represents for wrestling fans the culmination of a journey almost achieved twenty years ago and finally reached. Because as difficult as it was to follow WWE, wrestling in Italy has always maintained widespread popularity, confined almost exclusively to the internet, while in the mainstream, the discipline is still too often treated with excessive superficiality, as if it were still the camp spectacle of the '80s. For this reason, WWE has even in recent years been reluctant to bring a PLE to Italy, partly for fear that the audience was still immature and partly for the lack of familiarity with English in our parts. Fears largely overcome by recent Raw and SmackDown broadcasts from Italy in recent years and completely forgotten these days by the Inalpi Arena in Turin during Clash in Italy.

The revenge of those who have long believed in wrestling is also demonstrated by the average age in the arena, mostly populated by those who in 2007 were already old enough to be fans of John Cena or Eddie Guerrero. Outside, before the gates open, championship belts abound: some walk with the enormous replica resting on their shoulder, most hold the smaller, more accessible toy one. The atmosphere is warm and Turin immediately makes WWE understand what to expect by coloring the wait with chants and reserving a true tribute to Luca Franchini and Michele Posa, the Italian WWE commentators, not universally appreciated, but whose role in the spread of WWE is undeniable. There's also the green shirt guy, the guy in the fluorescent green shirt who always sits ringside for the cameras. Who knows how he does it!

To make Clash in Italy even more memorable, WWE put together a spectacular card, packed with almost all of the federation's top athletes. It starts with WWE Champion Cody Rhodes against challenger Gunther, a fierce giant who forced John Cena into retirement a few months ago. In the narrative context of the match, Gunther would be the villain of the story, but the arena also welcomes several spectators from nearby Austria and more generally the European origin of the Ring General arouses a lot of sympathy, dividing the crowd until the end of the match, which was a bit anticlimactic and a bit anticipated. But there's no time to cool down because the next match also has a world title at stake.

It's time for WWE Women's Champion Rhea Ripley against challenger Jade Cargill. Here the audience is all rooting for the Australian champion and against her imposing rival. The match, won by Rhea Ripley, who thus retains the belt, was a bit clunky, due to a still somewhat uncertain Cargill and an even more uncertain save made by B-Fab and Michin, who had rushed to support, but were neutralized by the surprise intervention of Charlotte Flair. For the Inalpi Arena in Turin, however, the first hour was just a warm-up for what was the most intense moment of the evening, the clash of titans Brock Lesnar vs Oba Femi.

The energy in the arena is palpable; at the first note of Lesnar's entrance music, the entire arena jumps to its feet, and even the Minnesota giant breaks character for a few moments and smiles as fans sing his song, even though it has no lyrics, simply replicating its rhythm like a chorus. Then Lesnar himself lets out two rhythmic hops upon Oba Femi's arrival, while the 10,000 attendees chant "Oba! Oba!" in unison. Oba is already an idol: after all, his character in WWE 2K26 hinted at how much WWE was banking on him. The clash is brief but electrifying; Lesnar's sudden attack catches Oba off guard at the start of the match, but it takes seven finishing moves to take down the Nigerian athlete, one of which was performed on the American commentary table, shattering it. Leaving the ring towards the stage, Lesnar still seemed very amused by the reception.

The surprise of the evening, however, is Sol Ruca's victory against veteran (and Irish) Becky Lynch, making her the new WWE Women's Intercontinental Champion. The only title change of the evening was a lively match, in which the two wrestlers found better chemistry than in previous encounters, leading to the spectacular Sol Snatcher performed from the top rope with which the new champion pinned her rival. The evening did not have a single match below expectations; the atmosphere remained incredibly hot for the entire duration of the show, with a peak of adrenaline with Lesnar and Oba, and now it's time for the main event.

Roman Reigns (who we will soon see in theaters as Akuma in the Street Fighter movie) must face Jacob Fatu, not only for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, but also for the role of leader of the large Samoan family within the company. A no-rules match, where the two fought for almost half an hour in the ring and around the arena, with ice and snacks thrown at the bar and tables broken in the square. The victory of the reigning champion Roman Reigns sends the Turin audience home still supercharged and truly the protagonist of the evening. Clash in Italy swept away all doubts: Italian wrestling had been waiting a lifetime for a night like this, and as often happens when WWE comes to Europe, the arena's participation proved to be very warm and enthusiastic, probably even more so than usually happens in the USA.